Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1887-07-15
PLANTS AND CLIMATE.
An Interesting and Instructive Study Il
AurtculturIsta and Othcra

AgrioulturIsts and, Others.
Every cline has vegetation peculiar
to itself. This vegetation may be pocu
liar in either or both of two ways
First, by including plants which do moi
grow in other countries; second, by in.
cluding common plants which are
dwarfcd or otherwise modified by
climate. This second division is an
interesting one. The differences be-
tween tho general aspects of vegetation
in Canada and in Tennessee are chiefly
due to differences in climate. We do
not know what feature of climate pro-
duccs the greatest change in plants,
whether the temperature, the amount of
moisture in the air, the amount or the in
tensity of sunlight. For our purpose
however, 1t is not necessary to inquire
into the ultimate causes. We know
that climate, in some mysterious man
ner, produces wonderful changes in
plants.
When vegetable is taken to tho
northward, it begins to assume n
smaller stature; it becomes dwarfed
The average height of Indian corn in
the Gulf States is about twelve feet, but
in Canada it is only six feet. Those
who live on farms can readily compare
the size of the Yankee corn with the
Southern dent The apples of North
ern Russia grow on bushes rather than
trees, and the bushes are planted in
hills after the manner of corn. Forest
trees are much smaller in cold and
frigid countries than in warm and tenn
perate countries. Aside from dwarfing,
plants usually take on different forms
as they are taken northward. The
tops are rounder. In warm climates
the tops incline toward pyramidal or
slender form. The lower branches of
the evergreen trees are proportionally
longer in Canada than in Carolina.
There also appears to be at the North
a greater tendency in plants to sucker
or sprout from the roots and to produce
underground stems. Every farmers
boy knows that Yankee corn suckers
much more than dent. Although
Northern latitudes induce dwarfng,
tho amount of leaf surface to
the plant is proportionallY greater
than southwark. Latitude also has
potent influence upon the colors of flow
GERS and fruit. Northern fruits, like
northern maidens, have ruddy cheeks,
In old Russian song is n marvellous
maiden whose neck was like swans,
whose lips were like cherries and whose
checks were as red rs the Volga apple.
The beauty of Alpine lowersis proverb-
ial. On the unfrequented slopes of
high mountains, fringing the perpetual
SHOWS, are the brightest and prcttiest
flowers the world affords. The vegeta-
ton of the tropics is remarkable not SO
much for the brightness of the individ
ual flowers as for the tangled eXuber-
ance of many robust forms. 1t is now
supposed that the great intensity of
sunlight at high latitudes and attitudes
is the cause of this brightness of north
ern products. Certainly, both color
and flavor of fruits are higher in coun-
tries where there are great extremes of
temperature. The fruits of New En-
gland are better than those of Cali
fornia. Uniformly torrid climates pro-
duce acrid and poisonous plants. The
historic hemlock which Socrates drank
loses its virulence when grown in the
cool summers of Scotland. Aromatic
plants are characteristic of deserts.
The influence of climate upon plants
is a new subject of inquiry in science.
We shall soon hope to have a complete
knowledge of the subject.-L. II. Bail
ey, in Country Gentlemen.